November 7 - FDR is Elected to Serve His Fourth Term in Office

This Day in History: 7 November 2020

 

7 November 1944

 

76 years ago, today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented fourth term in office and remains the only president to have served more than two terms. He had rose above personal and political challenges to ultimately emerge as one of the most influential presidents, presiding over two of the biggest crises in US history after contracting polio in 1921: the Great Depression in the 1930s and World War II. As president, he implemented the legislation necessary to help boost America out of the Great Depression. Although he initially delayed US involvement in the war, the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941 thrust America into the conflict.

 

When Roosevelt was elected to his fourth term, the war was looking to be in favour of the Allied victory, but the president's health was in serious decline. His arteriosclerosis had been worsened by the stress of managing the war, and in April 1945, seven months before the war's end, Roosevelt died of a stroke. Harry Truman, Roosevelt's vice president, came into office, while Congress proposed the 22^nd Amendment. This would mean that presidents would be limited to two consecutive terms. Prior to this, they had either followed George Washington's example in serving a maximum of two years or were unsuccessful in winning a third. The Amendment was passed in 1951.

 

Want to find out more about the life of Franklin Roosevelt? Click here for more information, or here for more firsts in US presidential history.